I can remember watching the CMO of Harley-Davidson speak seven years ago. He asked the audience, "How do we define brand loyalty?" Instead of answering the question, he merely ran through a few slides of images. It was obvious. The pictures showed customers with Harley-Davidson tattoo's. Johnny Cupcakes is one of the few brands like Harley that can claim such loyalty. Thousands of its customers have inked themselves in the classic cupcake and crossbones logo.

How does Johnny Earle inspire such loyalty?

Johnny's success is one-third design and two-thirds brand experience. Johnny realizes that a T-shirt at the end of the day is just a T-shirt. People aren't just looking for a product, they are looking for an experience. It's about developing a brand that goes beyond a transaction to an interaction. Johnny believes the little things can make the biggest difference. Earle eschews traditional advertising and succeeds by investing into making his brand talkable. His stores showcase the product in ovens and bakery counters. The smell of vanilla frosting permeates the air. Small details like oven mitt hang tags and the takeout boxes all play a part in creating the Johnny Cupcakes brand. For those who order from Johnny Cupcakes online, they are treated to an interesting unboxing experience with little extras. Here is a comment from a customer in an online forum,

What a great display. So, there was a. the box, b. the tissue paper, c. the bag, d. the shirt, e. the hang tag, f. the oven mitt label, g. the home alone card, h. the business card, i. the button, and j. the candy.

Be approachable and be fans of your fans – Part of Johnny’s appeal is his personal story of a class clown and scrappy kid selling T-shirts out of his car. He’s a true American success story of following your passion. Johnny makes himself accessible by speaking, blogging, releasing videos and hosting customer appreciation events.

A Tale of Cupcake Kismet

Johnny arrived at the conference about two and a half hours before he was scheduled to speak. Instead of holing up in the green room, Johnny was keen to walk around the event. While walking through the trade show area he said hello to fellow speaker Aaron Draplin and met Brand Fuel co-founder Danny Rosin.

Danny mentioned to Johnny that he had visited a nearby bakery named Bittersweet earlier that morning. He said the entire staff wore Johnny Cupcakes products. It was the de facto staff uniform. Danny suggested he pop by to say "hello" to surprise and delight his fans. Johnny thought about it for a second and promptly took out his cellphone. "Why don't we invite them to the conference to hear me speak?" A minute later Johnny was on the phone with owner Kim Hammer.

Fifteen minutes later Kim and the crew from Bittersweet arrived at the Sheraton Raleigh. They were provided passes to the event and escorted backstage to meet Johnny. After a cupcake and conversation, Johnny took the stage to give his keynote on "Why the Little Things Yield Big Results." He took time during the talk to recognize the crew from Bittersweet. Here is a three-minute video from Tee Hamilton at Creative Alchemy about the encounter:

After the keynote, Johnny once again connected with the crew from Bittersweet for pictures. Here's Johnny, the crew and fellow keynote speaker Ekaterina Walter of Sprinklr:

According to John Maxwell, "People in life don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." One of main takeaways from Spike Jones during the conference was this, "If you want raving fans, you need to be fans of your fans." Embrace the opportunities like Johnny did to truly connect. Sometimes is takes just a little kismet to open the door.

I’m an author, keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator focusing on customer experience, employee engagement, technology, differentiation, and purpose at StanPhelpsSpeaks.com. I have a JD/MBA with over 25 years of agency and brand experience. I am looking to shift a busine...